The AODA Alliance Launches Part 2 of Its Series of Online Videos on the Campaign for Accessibility, to Mark the 23rd Anniversary of Ontario’s Grassroots Campaign for Disability Accessibility

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities https://www.aodaalliance.org aodafeedback@gmail.com Twitter: @aodaalliance

November 29, 2017

SUMMARY

A Great New Resource at Your Fingertips

Today the AODA Alliance is delighted to unveil Part 2 of its series of online videos. These tell the story of the campaign for accessibility in Ontario.

It was 23 years ago today, on November 29, 1994, that a group of about 20 disability advocates gathered at the Ontario Legislature, and launched the campaign for accessibility legislation in Ontario. In the following 23 years, their movement has grown and grown, with quite an impact!

In March 2014, the AODA Alliance unveiled Part 1 of its series of online video lectures on this topic. That included an initial series of 12 lectures that AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky gave at the Osgoode Hall Law School, while he was serving for a short time as a Roy McMurtry Fellow.

Today the AODA Alliance unveils an additional 18 online videos. These tell more of the story. Some of these new videos are lectures given at the Osgoode Hall Law School or elsewhere. Others are media interviews on Ontario’s leading public affairs program, “The Agenda with Steve Paikin.” Still others are key moments in our accessibility campaign that were recorded on video. All have captioning available. We hope to update this with more content in the future.

All of this content is easy to use, whether or not you are a law student or university student, whether or not you are in Ontario or even in Canada, whether or not you know much about disability issues.

We encourage anyone teaching in schools, colleges or universities to use all or part of these videos, in courses you teach. If you are looking for added reading materials for a lesson, check out the additional background information we identify for each video. All our videos are helpful for anyone teaching about law, politics, public or social policy, disability issues, human rights and discrimination, social work, architecture and other areas of design, public planning, and so many other topics.

If you want to get more involved in advocating on disability accessibility, these videos are helpful to learn what we are trying to achieve, how we have gone about it, and what we have accomplished.

Below, to help you review all this content at a glance, we first list each of the 18 new online videos, in the order they were created, with a link to each. We then give you a list of the original 12 video lectures, released in March 2014, with a link to each.

After that, we offer much more detail about the new videos, released today. For each, we give you their title, a link to watch the video, a description, and links to helpful background information for those who want to probe further into the video’s topic. At the end of this Update, we also provide our usual background and contact information.

We are delighted that the initial package of online videos, released in March 2014, has had a good impact. The videos have been viewed hundreds of times. All or part of these videos have been included in educational programming, such as college and university courses. We have gotten feedback on them from as far away as Israel and New Zealand. Indeed, it was exposure to these videos that led activists in New Zealand to decide to model their campaign for national accessibility legislation after our campaign.

David Lepofsky, who appears in most of these videos, emphasizes that the efforts and successes of Ontario’s grassroots non-partisan accessibility campaign, described in these videos, have been due to the amazing contributions of so many dedicated individuals and community organizations, from one end of this province to the other. From 2016 to the present, AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky, who appears in much of this content, has also been serving as a Visiting Professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School. From January 2016 to the present, he has also been serving in a volunteer capacity as the chair of the, Special Education Advisory Committee of the Toronto District School Board. We are indebted to the Osgoode Hall Law School for video recording the lectures at Osgoode Hall Law School and at York University included in both parts of this video series, and for providing the captioning.

We encourage you to:

* Watch any of these videos that may interest you, and encourage others to do so.

* Circulate this list of our video series to any organization, politician or media that you think would benefit from them. Encourage teachers and professors to use them in courses.

* Send us your feedback. We always like to hear what people have to say, and how they use resources like these. Write us at aodafeedback@gmail.com

Video #12
The Need to Train All School Teachers to Be Able to Teach All Students, Including Students with Disabilities January 30, 2017 https://youtu.be/zY6Asm605UU

Video #13
Controversial 2006 Changes to the Enforcement of Human Rights (Anti-discrimination) Legislation in Ontario The Important Debate around Bill 107’s Privatization of Human Rights in Ontario February 6, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH4xCi5Ye_g

Description, in this interview on TVOntario’s “The Agenda with Steve Paikin”, David Lepofsky talks about the accessibility barriers that impede voters with disabilities, and the steps needed to remove and prevent them. (15 minutes)

Description: In this interview, AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky discusses the disability accessibility issues that are in play during the October 2011 Ontario general election. (12 minutes)

To learn more, check out:

* the summary of the September 2, 2011 AODA Alliance Queen’s Park news conference on the disability issues in the Ontario 2011 general election and the positions of the political parties on these issues.

* The AODA Alliance’s comparison of the major parties’ positions and promises on the 2011 Ontario election’s disability accessibility issues.

* The September 23, 2011 Toronto Star article on the disability accessibility issues in the 2011 Ontario general election.

Description: In this TVOntario interview, AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky gives an update on progress towards a fully accessible province. He also addresses the disability issues as they relate to the then-ongoing leadership race in the Ontario Liberal Party, to choose the replacement for outgoing Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. The AODA Alliance had solicited commitments on accessibility from each of the candidates for Liberal leadership. (20 minutes)

To learn more, check out:

* the commitments on accessibility which the AODA Alliance sought from the candidates for leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.

* The accessibility commitments which Kathleen Wynne made on accessibility in her December 3, 2012 letter to the AODA Alliance. Kathleen Wynne was to go on to win the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party and to become Ontario’s premier.

Description: On May 16, 2014, in the midst of the 2014 Ontario provincial general election, the AODA Alliance tried a novel strategy to focus public attention on disability issues. It held a “Virtual News Conference,” entirely online. It simultaneously released the election commitments on disability accessibility that it had secured from the major political parties. During the Virtual News Conference, AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky summarized the parties’ election commitments. This let media cover this news conference without having to leave the campaign trail.

To learn more, check out:

* The May 16, 2014 AODA Alliance news release on the major parties’ 2014 election pledges on disability accessibility issues.

* The speaking notes for the May 16, 2014 AODA Alliance virtual news conference on the parties’ election pledges on disability accessibility in the 2014 Ontario election.

* The AODA Alliance’s May 16, 2014 analysis of the major parties’ 2014 election pledges on disability accessibility issues.

Video #6
Title: AODA Alliance Celebration at Queen’s Park of the 20th Anniversary of Ontario’s Grassroots Campaign for Strong Disability Accessibility Legislation Date: November 28, 2014
Link to video: https://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/2014-election-accessibility-issues-speaking-notes.asp Description: On November 28, 2014, the AODA Alliance convened an exciting event at the Ontario Legislature at Queen’s Park, Toronto to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the launch of Ontario’s non-partisan grassroots campaign for strong Ontario disability accessibility legislation. That campaign started on November 29, 1994, at the very same building, the Ontario Legislature.

At this event, AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky reviewed the two decades of this campaign. This included remarks from key public figures in politics and in the media who made a difference during this campaign. This event gives a good overview of the first 20 years of this effort.

Description: On November 28, 2014, the AODA Alliance held a 30 minute news conference at the Ontario Legislature’s Media Studio, Queen’s Park, Toronto. This was held right after the AODA Alliance concluded its event at Queen’s Park to celebrate this anniversary. This gives a good overview of the key achievements and goals of this campaign. (30 minutes)

To learn more, check out:

* The video of the November 28, 2014 AODA Alliance celebration at Queen’s Park of the birth of Ontario’s grassroots campaign for accessibility legislation, described earlier in this video series, and the background documents listed with it.

Video #8
Title: Champions for the Disabled – David Lepofsky and David Onley Interviewed on TVOntario’s “The Agenda with Steve Paikin” Date: February 2, 2015
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JRhfg4U9Us

Description: AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky and the Ontario Government’s Special Advisor on Accessibility David Onley (formerly Ontario Lieutenant Governor) give an update on progress and challenges on the road to a fully accessible Ontario for people with disabilities. This TV interview came on the eve of the Ontario Government’s public release of the 2014 final report of the Mayo Moran Independent Review of the AODA’s implementation and enforcement. (27 minutes)

To learn more, check out:

* the June 30, 2014 AODA Alliance brief to the Mayo Moran Independent Review of the AODA’s implementation and enforcement.

* the Final Report of the Mayo Moran Independent Review of the AODA’s implementation and enforcement, which the Ontario Government made public on February 13, 2015.

* The February 13, 2015 AODA Alliance news release responding to the Government’s release of the final report of the Mayo Moran AODA Independent Review ‘s final report.

* the AODA Alliance’s analysis of the final report of the Mayo Moran AODA Independent Review, including analysis of the findings and recommendations the AODA Alliance supports, and the AODA Alliance ‘s analysis of the findings and recommendations the AODA Alliance does not support.

Description: In this interview on TVOntario, David Lepofsky addresses the need to substantially reform the way education is provided in Ontario to students with special education needs and to all students with disabilities. He draws on his role as AODA Alliance chair, and as chair of the Special Education Advisory Committee of Canada’s largest school board, the Toronto District School Board. (19 minutes)

To learn more, check out:

* The AODA Alliance’s long campaign to get the Ontario Government to enact an Education Accessibility Standard under the AODA.

* the work and recommendations for reform of the Special Education Advisory Committee of the Toronto District School Board.

* Later in this video series, David Lepofsky’s November 29, 2016 lecture on why Ontario needs to enact an Education Accessibility Standard under the AODA, and his January 30, 2017 lecture on why all teachers should be trained to teach all students, including students with disabilities. See also the background documents listed under those two videos.

Description: In this lecture, David Lepofsky describes the many disability accessibility barriers that impede students with disabilities in Ontario’s education system. He explains why Ontario needs to enact an Education Accessibility Standard under the AODA. This lecture was delivered to the Osgoode Hall Law School course on Disability Rights. It was delivered one week before Ontario’s premier, Kathleen Wynne, agreed on December 5, 2016 that the Ontario Government would create an Education Accessibility Standard.

This lecture would be informative for anyone involved in special education issues, including teachers, school board officials, parents and faculties of education, as well as for anyone interested in advocating for students with disabilities.

To learn more, check out:

* the November 21, 2016 AODA Alliance Discussion Paper on what an Education Accessibility Standard should include.

* The November 9, 2016 AODA Alliance analysis of KPMG’s 2015 report to the Ontario Government on disability accessibility barriers in Ontario’s education system.

* The December 5, 2016 open letter to the Ontario Government, from 22 disability community organizations, calling for the enactment of an Education Accessibility Standard, and

* Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s December 5, 2016 statement in the Ontario Legislature, agreeing that the Ontario Government would develop an Education Accessibility Standard.

Description: In this widely-viewed video, AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky narrates a tour of significant accessibility problems in the brand-new Centennial College Culinary Arts Centre. This shows why Ontario needs strong accessibility provisions on the accessibility of the built environment in the Ontario Building Code and AODA accessibility standards. This video has secured great media coverage.

To learn more, check out:

* The November 29, 2016 AODA Alliance Update, unveiling this video, on the 22nd anniversary of Ontario’s grassroots accessibility movement.

* Media coverage of this video in the Toronto Star, and on CBC national TV news.

* The February 7, 2017 lecture by David Lepofsky and Thea Kurdi, later in this video series, at the University of Waterloo Faculty of Architecture, on disability barriers in the built environment (which included this video).

Video #12
Title: The Need to Train All School Teachers to Be Able to Teach All Students, Including Students with Disabilities Date: January 30, 2017
Link to video: https://youtu.be/zY6Asm605UU

Description: David Lepofsky gave this lecture to student teachers, studying at York University’s Faculty of Education. This lecture explores the disability accessibility barriers facing students with disabilities in our school system and the need for the next generations of teachers to be trained to be able to teach all students, including students with disabilities. this includes being trained in principles of “Universal Design in Learning” (UDL) All teachers, all those studying to be teachers, all others working in our education system, and those who teach in teachers’ colleges should watch this video, as should anyone doing advocacy on education for students with disabilities .

To learn more, check out:

* the AODA Alliance’s multi-year campaign to win the enactment of an Education Accessibility Standard under the AODA.

* David Lepofsky’s November 28, 2016 lecture, included earlier in this video series, on why Ontario needs to enact an Education Accessibility Standard under the AODA, and the related documents listed with that lecture.

Video #13
Title: Controversial 2006 Changes to the Enforcement of Human Rights (Anti-discrimination) Legislation in Ontario The Important Debate around Bill 107’s Privatization of Human Rights in Ontario Date: February 6, 2017
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH4xCi5Ye_g

Description: In this lecture, given to a first year State and Citizen course at the Osgoode Hall Law School, David Lepofsky explores the controversial changes that the Ontario Government made in 2006 to the way a discrimination victim enforces his or her human rights in Ontario, through the enactment of Bill 107. Before that change, discrimination complaints were brought to a public law enforcement agency, the Ontario Human Rights Commission. After the 2006 reforms imposed under Bill 107, an amendment to the Ontario Human Rights Code, human rights enforcement was privatized. Discrimination victims had to privately investigate and present their own case before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, without a public law enforcement agency. David Lepofsky took active part in that 2006 debate on behalf of the AODA Alliance, which vigourously opposed these reforms.

This lecture would interest anyone interest in human or civil rights issues, social justice advocacy, social and public policy, and public administration.

To learn more, check out:

* The history of the unfolding debate over Bill 107 in 2006, and its aftermath, recounted in detail on a special part of the AODA Alliance’s website.

* The November 26, 2006 AODA Alliance brief, calling for substantial amendments to Bill 107 before the Legislature passed it.

* The March 1, 2012 AODA Alliance brief to the Andrew Pinto Review which the Ontario Government appointed to review the effectiveness of Bill 107.

* The April 12, 2006 supplemental AODA Alliance brief to the Pinto Review, which the Pinto Review refused to read.

* the November 2012 final report of the Andrew Pinto Review of Bill 107.

Description: In this lecture to architecture students at the University of Waterloo Faculty of Architecture, David Lepofsky, along with accessibility specialist Thea Kurdi of DesignABLE Environments, address the pressing and too-often unmet need to ensure that those who design the built environment to ensure that full accessibility is designed in for people with disabilities. Practical examples are given. It would be great if all design professionals and all those studying to be design professionals would watch this video.

To learn more, check out:

* the AODA Alliance videos on accessibility problems in the Centennial College Culinary Arts Centre, and the Ryerson University Student Learning Centre, included in this video series.

* The October 4, 2012 AODA Alliance brief on improvements needed in the Public Spaces Accessibility Standard to be enacted under the AODA.

* the March 25, 2013 AODA Alliance brief to the Ontario Government on needed improvements to the accessibility provisions of the Ontario Building Code.

* the July 31, 2017 on needed improvements to the 2011 Transportation Accessibility Standard, part of the 2011 Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation. That brief recommended, among other things, the enactment of requirements for the built environment in transportation stations and stops.

Description: In this lecture to the first-year class at the Osgoode Hall Law School, introduced by David Lepofsky, leading U.S. disability rights lawyer Lainey Feingold describes “Structured Negotiations,” a novel and highly successful new approach she has invented for resolving disability discrimination and accessibility cases. She explains how structured negotiations works and how it succeeds.

To learn more, check out:

* Lainey Feingold’s website www.lflegal.com

* Lainey Feingold’s book “Structured Negotiations A Winning Alternative to Law Suits”, published by the American Bar Association.

* Lainey Feingold’s February 13, 2017 appearance on TVOntario’s program “The Agenda with Steve Paikin,” later in this video series, where she explains to the public how structured negotiation has worked in the US, to advance the rights of people with disabilities.

Description: In this TV interview on TVOntario’s “The Agenda with Steve Paikin,” US disability rights lawyer Lainey Feingold explains her novel approach to resolving disability accessibility and human rights claims, which she calls “structured negotiations.” This is especially important in Ontario, where enforcement of accessibility remains a serious deficiency. (18 minutes)

To learn more, check out:

* Lainey Feingold’s February 10, 2017 lecture to the first-year class at the Osgoode Hall Law School, included in this video series, and the documents and resources listed there for more information.

Description: In the 2015 Canadian federal election, Canada’s Liberal Party promised to enact a national accessibility law. On August 22, 2017, the Alliance for an Accessible and Inclusive Canada held a 3-hour online virtual conference of policy experts, on what the promised national accessibility law should include. This conference was moderated and its contents were organized by David Lepofsky.

This conference is meant to be useful for anyone designing or advocating for an accessibility law’s enactment or improvement, whether it is national or provincial, anywhere in the world. Taking part in the audience and at times, at the table, was Canada’s first Minister for People with Disabilities, the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, then responsible for developing Canada’s promised national accessibility law.

Speaking at this conference were policy experts from Canada, the US, Israel and Switzerland. You can hear, for example, from the former cabinet ministers who led the enactment of Ontario’s 2005 accessibility law and Manitoba’s 2013 accessibility law, from the two experts whom the Ontario Government appointed to conduct independent reviews of the implementation of Ontario’s accessibility law, from the director of the US Access Board and the former director of the Office of Disability Rights at the US Justice Department, from an Israeli Department of Justice official involved in enforcement of Israel’s accessibility law, and from the lawyer who wrote Israel’s Customer Service Accessibility Regulation.

During the first few minutes of this conference, David Lepofsky’s voice is a bit over-modulated, but still understandable. It clears up shortly afterward for the rest of the conference. The other speakers are all clear throughout.

To learn more, check out:

* the AODA Alliance’s revised Discussion Paper on what Canada’s promised national accessibility law should include, written by David Lepofsky, to be published in the National Journal of Constitutional Law, available on request by emailing aodafeedback@gmail.com.

* The Government of Canada’s May 2017 report on the results of its public consultation on what the promised national accessibility law should include and the June 13, 2017 AODA Alliance analysis of the Federal Government’s consultation report.

Description: In this widely-watched video, released on October 29, 2017, David Lepofsky takes viewers on a narrated tour of serious accessibility problems at Ryerson University’s new Student Learning Centre. This video, along with the video described earlier in this video series regarding the accessibility problems at the new Centennial College Culinary Arts Centre, shows that Ontario needs to strengthen the accessibility provisions regarding the built environment in the Ontario Building Code and AODA accessibility standards. This video has secured great media coverage and a great number of views on the internet.

To learn more, check out:

* The October 29, 2017 AODA Alliance news release, announcing this video on the 19th anniversary of the Ontario Legislature’s landmark October 29, 1998 resolution. That resolution unanimously adopted the disability movement’s 11 principles for a strong Ontario accessibility law.

* CITY TV’s October 29, 2017 news report on the AODA Alliance video on the Ryerson Student Learning Centre.

* The Toronto Star’s November 2, 2017 article on the AODA Alliance video on the Ryerson Student Learning Centre.

* The AODA Alliance’s November 29, 2016 video on disability accessibility barriers at the new Centennial College Culinary Arts Centre, included earlier in this video series.

* The February 7, 2017 lecture, earlier in this video series, by David Lepofsky and Thea Kurdi at the University of Waterloo Faculty of Architecture on designing an accessible built environment.

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You can always send your feedback to us on any AODA and accessibility issue at aodafeedback@gmail.com

Have you taken part in our “Picture Our Barriers campaign? If not, please join in! You can get all the information you need about our “Picture Our Barriers” campaign by visiting www.aodaalliance.org/2016

We encourage you to use the Government’s toll-free number for reporting AODA violations. We fought long and hard to get the Government to promise this, and later to deliver on that promise. If you encounter any accessibility problems at any large retail establishments, it will be especially important to report them to the Government via that toll-free number. Call 1-866-515-2025.